Emergence of New Feelings
by TheExpiredCookie
Summary: Sakura questions her feelings. Rated M just in case. Starts at the end of chapter 698 in the manga.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto

This story is what I think should have happened in the end. (NaruSaku)

"Shut up… Stupid." Naruto and Sasuke, both with missing arms, are exhausted at the end of their battle.

Sakura jumps in and realizes the state her two teammates are in and rushes to heal them both. No one talks.

Finally, Sasuke works up the courage to speak, "Sakura...I…" He doesn't get to finish because Sakura looks at him angrily. "Don't... I need to concentrate." The three remain in silence while Sakura heals them.

Staring at the sky Naruto begins to think, "_I'm ready. I can take it..." _He mentally prepares himself for what is to come. In reality he had been expecting it, and had spent an immense amount of time thinking if he could accept and endure the pain that his heart will bear. Sakura can finally pursue a future with his dark-haired teammate. He takes a long deep breath before he falls asleep to the constant hum of Sakura's healing chakra, "After all, as long as she's happy, I'm happy."

**Time Skip 3 Months - (Sasuke never leaves the village, Kakashi is made Hokage after Tsunade retires, a funeral is held for those fallen in battle, and village is almost completely rebuilt from Pain's attack)**

"Hey Sasuke!" Sakura calls from the entrance to the Hokage Tower. These past few months Sakura has seen an incredible change in Sasuke's personality. He is talking more and has actively been trying to fit in with his old classmates. She also notices that his face seems to brighten up every time he sees her, which makes her to blush softly.

"Hey!" says Sasuke as he walks up to his teammate with a very small grin. "Lady Tsunade is almost done with your new arm!" she says with a smile. "It's amazing how she was is able to use Hashirama's cells to help you and Naruto out!"

Sasuke just stares at Sakura, which causes her to blush. During these 3 months, Sasuke and Sakura have gotten closer. They talk to each other and he has even picked her up from the hospital a couple times to eat. She likes to consider it a date but she knows Sasuke isn't like that. Maybe he's changed though.

"Alright then! Im sure Lady Tsunade is done by now. Lets go!"

She grabs Sasuke's hand and leads him downstairs to the lab where the 5th Hokage has been working on creating the prosthetic arms for Sakura's two teammates. Naruto is already there standing next to Tsunade and looming over her shoulder as she worked. He bombarded her with questions such as, "How did you do this!? Can I eat it!? Does it taste like ramen!? Will you give me an extra finger!? Can you make mine orange!?"

"Seriously, what is this kid's obsession with the color orange?" thought Sasuke.

"Naruto stop distracting Lady Tsunade!" Sakura walks over to him and pulls him by the ear. Tsunade sighs and mentally thanks Sakura for getting the annoying brat, who she considers her younger brother, out of her hair.

"Oww Sakura that really hurts!" Said Naruto as he rubbed his ear. "Naruto be quiet! Your arm is done, and so is yours Sasuke. Now come, lets begin the procedure and put them on."

**Time Skip 3 Months - (Naruto and Sasuke finish their rehabilitation)**

"FINALLY!" screamed Naruto as he ran out of the Leaf Village's Center for Rehabilitation. "Shut up you idiot." glared Sasuke.

"Hey guys." greeted Sakura. "I see you're done with your last day of rehabilitation."

"Yep! Hey Sakura, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Ichiraku Ramen with me and Sasuke to celebrate us finally being back to 100%!" said Naruto happily. "Sure, why not!" said Sakura with a smile.

"Actually she can't..." said Sasuke. "Why not?" said Naruto and Sakura in unison. "Because Sakura and I have a date right now…" A stunned Sakura stared at Sasuke, her heart beating and smile creeping up her face.

"Y-Yeah." said Sakura nervously. "Sorry Naruto."

Naruto didn't answer her. He observed the two stare at each other for a few seconds before he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away with his head slumped down. Sakura made a mental note to apologize to Naruto again later, but right now she had more important matters to deal with.

Sasuke Uchiha, her first crush and love just asked her out on a date. Well he kind of demanded it but she didn't care. She was happy, and she couldn't believe that THE Sasuke Uchiha was blushing madly right in front of her.

"So where do you want to go?" asked Sasuke. Sakura couldn't even reply much less process what he asked because her heart was too busy dealing with the happiness overload.

Naruto's walk home was long. He trudged on slowly and hung his head low, letting the occasional tear fall to the ground. He was heartbroken. He knew that Sakura and Sasuke would get together eventually, but he never imagined that it would happen so soon.

All he could think about was the future. Sakura and Sasuke would get married, have children, then grow old together before he even had his first kiss (Sasuke and he established that their kiss didn't count and agreed to never speak of the incident ever again). Naruto knew that he could never love anyone other than his pink-haired teammate.

He tried with Hinata by asking her out on date but it ended with him discussing Hinata's love confession, not returning her feelings, and a heartbroken Hyuga. They were still friends though, and he still considered her as one of his precious people.

It wasn't until Naruto looked up that he realized that he wasn't home, but at his old sensei's grave. He stood there staring at it for a few minutes and decided it had been a while since he talked with Ole Pervy Sage. So he sat down and began to pour his heart out just as dark clouds rolled in and let loose their heavy rain.

"...I don't know Pervy Sage. It hurts. It hurts so much right here and I don't know what to do." cried Naruto as he clenched the area of his shirt that covered his heart. "I've been hiding it. I've put up so many masks. I don't even attend the little gatherings of the Rookie 9 and Team Gai because they're always together!

Why do I love her? All she does is cause me pain. Why me, the kid who endured more pain as a child than anyone should in a lifetime, have to endure more!? I know someone has to shoulder this burden but WHY ME!?" He begins to punch the ground as he releases his emotions. "She hasn't even said thank you yet…"

He only starts to calm down when he hears a group toads croaking nearby. He listens, only interrupting the sound of rain and croaking of toads with the occasional sniffle. He doesn't know how much time has passed but he lays on his back, focusing on the blades of grass that ruffle against his neck.

"I think I'm gonna go travel the world like you Pervy Sage, but instead of searching for peace like you I'm gonna go maintain it. I fulfilled your dream for you but I've been hearing rumors that the Village Hidden in the Stone is already causing arguments with the Village Hidden in the Grass. More problems likes this are bound to come up, so I'm gonna go and try to keep the peace." says Naruto solemnly. The rain stops, the sun comes up, and the toads hop in the water with a small splash.

He smiles and gets up, "Alright Pervy Sage, I'll see you when I see you!" exclaimed Naruto with his trademark grin. He decides to go talk to Kakashi Sensei about his departure and holds up a peace sign with his fingers as he walks away from his old sensei with a new goal.

**At Sakura's Home At About 10:00pm**

"Bye Sasuke thank you!" waved Sakura as she watched her date walk to his home. She enters her house and as soon as the door shuts, "AHH!" yelled Sakura.

"What is it? Are you alright dear?" asked Sakura's mom Mebuki. "Mom, I just went on a date with Sasuke!" said Sakura with glee. "Really? Wow congrats honey. Now be quiet your father his sleeping upstairs."

Sakura rushed to her room and stared at the moon. She couldn't believe the events of today had really happened. That night Sakura went to bed with smile on her face and needless to say she had very pleasant dreams.

**Sasuke's Home at about 10:00pm**

He was happy. It was such a foreign feeling to him but he accepted it eagerly. Sasuke Uchiha, was actually happy. He lay bed staring at the ceiling and thinking about how blessed he was to have friends like his teammates. Especially Naruto. He would have never been able to finally live his life and pursue his goal of reviving the Uchiha clan without Naruto.

If Naruto hadn't convinced the 5 kage to pardon his mistakes and not send him to prison he'd probably be miserable. He got off the hook with only a 3 year confinement to the village. He knew he deserved worse though.

"I'll have to thank Naruto tomorrow. How annoying." The best part was that he began to grow true feelings for his pink-haired teammate. He still called her annoying sometimes, but he meant it in a friendly way.

He was truly trying to fit back in and live a normal life, and the only person he had to thank was Naruto. "Thank you Naruto." he said softly.

That night Sasuke fell asleep with a smile on his face for the first time in a long time, and all he could think about was Sakura.

**Sakura's Home**

The next morning Sakura woke up to the knocking of someone at the door. She wondered why her parents didn't answer it, then realized that it was almost noon and that her parents left for work already.

She got up and lazily walked to the door. "Alright alright stop knocking, I'm coming!" Sakura opened the door and was greeted by Ino.

"Finally! I've been knocking for 10 minutes!" barked Ino the gossip queen. "Ino? Are you here for gossip? How did you figure out Sasuke and I went on a date?" Asked a groggy Sakura.

"WHAT!? You and Sasuke went on a date!? Details later Forehead, right now you gotta hurry. Naruto is leaving on a 3 year trip! I don't know why he wouldn't say goodbye to you but he's leaving!" wailed Ino.

"What? Naruto is leaving? When did he decide this? He didn't even tell me! Why that knucklehead, when I get a hold of him I'm gonna-"

"You're not gonna do anything unless you catch him, now hurry!" interrupted Ino.

Sakura nodded her head and made a beeline to the village gates hoping she wasn't too late to catch her blonde teammate. "You better have a good explanation for this Naruto. You can't leave. Not you too...Please."

Naruto was all packed. He was ready for this journey. "This is just what I need. Some time away from the village and… and them." said Naruto. "Besides, I gotta go keep the peace."

Naruto was already out of the village when he heard a female voice calling out to him, which made him stop and turn around. There she was, in all her beauty. Pink hair, emerald eyes, and amazing figure. He hated the fact that one look at her made him buzz with love inside. He loved everything about her, the way she controls chakra so perfectly and even her monstrous strength. Sakura Haruno was the only person he could love.

"Hey Sakura. What's up?" said Naruto nonchalantly.

"WHAT'S UP!? How could you even say that!? You're leaving on a 3 year journey and you didn't even come to say goodbye! You can't leave! Team 7 just got back together! C'mon, we're going back to Kakashi Sensei and telling him you're staying!" said a teary eyed Sakura.

She grabbed his hand and tried to pull Naruto but he wouldn't move.

"Sorry I didn't tell you Sakura. I only decided yesterday I was leaving. I have to keep Pervy Sage's dream about having peace in the world. Besides, you have Sasuke, you won't even notice I'm gone…" said Naruto sadly.

"No… you can't leave. Of course I'll notice you've left you're my best friend! Why would you do this to me? Do you hate me? I can't have another one of my teammates leave!" At this point Sakura was crying uncontrollably at the realization that he was serious.

She fell to her knees and begged him to stay, "Please Naruto. Please stay." Naruto squatted down to Sakura and wiped the tears from her face as he stared into her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll come back stronger than ever! I still have to be Hokage ya know!?" said Naruto with a small smile on his face.

Sakura knew she couldn't deal with another teammate leaving. She looked into his eyes and for the first time thought about how cute Naruto is. She didn't know what to say as she stared into his deep blue eyes, and out of desperation she tackled him to the ground, slammed her lips against his, and kissed him. She needed him to stay, she was pouring all her feelings into this kiss hoping that Naruto would realize how much she meant to him.

He couldn't believe it. One moment she crying on her knees, and now she's kissing him. He knew it wasn't real though. She was desperate. He knew leaving would break her heart, but he couldn't help but deepen the kiss.

So many thoughts were going through his head. "_Why is she kissing me? Doesn't she love Sasuke? Sasuke… She loves Sasuke. This kiss doesn't mean anything to her. She just wants me to stay, I'm just an old tool she threw away! She hasn't even thanked me for bringing back Sasuke yet!" _

Naruto grabbed her by the shoulders pushed her away, ending the kiss. They stared into each others eyes for a while in silence, Sakura confused and Naruto more heartbroken than ever.

The girl he's loved since as long as he could remember kissed him out of desperation and not love. He couldn't accept this. "I'm sorry, but this journey is important. Thank you for everything Sakura."

He could not work up the courage to scold her for the love lacking kiss, so he kissed her forehead quickly and walked away without looking back, leaving a confused Sakura to stare at him as he walked away into the distance.

**My Opinion:**

So the Naruto Manga is finally finished. Well, here is my opinion, The ending SUCKED! It was so rushed and I can't believe the author just ended it. I feel like he got bored with the story and decided to just finish it. I HATE the couples.

Sakura and Sasuke: Can Sakura please wake up and realize that Sasuke is just a cold son-of-a-*****?

Choji and Karui:

#1. WTF

#2. Ewwwww

#3. Facepalm

Shikamaru and Temari: Finally he did something right!

Naruto and Hinata: I'm a HUUUUUGE NaruSaku fan and even though I expected this it still makes me angry. Why Hinata, Kishi!? Naruto and Hinata have nothing in common! There were so many things the author just didn't finish! Sakura's confession in the Land of Iron for example. Does Naruto not care? He just lets it slide and they never talk about it? The "charming forehead" thing when Sakura was a genin. I feel like that should have played crucial part in the whole relationship decision. What about all the times Sasuke tried to kill Sakura? Does Sakura not give a crap about that? Even in the end Sakura is alone at home dressed like a stupid maid dusting a shelf, while her "loving Sasuke" is off traveling or something.

This is why I wrote this story. The ending really really unsatisfied me. I genuinely believe Kishimoto got bored with the story and just ended it to be done with it.

Anyways this is my rant. Please note that I have not seen the last Naruto movie and that these comments are purely my opinion. If any of these things were clarified WELL in the movie, then I stand corrected.

**Author's Notes:**

Hey Everybody! This is my first fanfic and I don't really think I'm a great writer. Hopefully I get better at this, so please leave honest reviews! Have a great day!


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! It's been a while. Sorry for the long wait to get this chapter up, but school has taken so much of my time. You know when I was reading fanfiction I used to wonder how school could have that much effect on someone's writing and always thought it was a way to excuse their laziness. Well boy was I wrong! School is a huge time consumer! Well, here's the next chapter. Please enjoy and make sure to read my comments at the bottom. Thanks!**

**Chapter 2**

**Time Skip 2 Weeks**

She still couldn't believe he left. He was really gone, she even gave Naruto her first kiss. It wasn't a true waste, Sakura could feel all of Naruto's bottled up love released for a few seconds when he kissed her back.

She knew he loved her, and she felt horrible for not apologizing to Naruto after the incident in the Land of Iron. The plain truth was that she just didn't love Naruto, yet she found herself longing for another kiss.

She felt like she didn't deserve him anyways, "Why does that idiot love me?"

Sakura held her tears from her eyes, trying her best to not let them fall into the cooking pot. She was preparing ramen for a lunch date she had with Sasuke. She knew that the fact she chose to cook ramen was a direct result of missing Naruto, yet she chose to make it anyways.

"_Naruto." _she thought. "_I miss you." _Sakura heard knocking on the door and to no surprise found Sasuke on the other side. Sasuke lately had been her comfort. She noticed how ironic it was to have Sasuke comfort her and Naruto leave. Her two teammates had literally switched places.

However, it wasn't the same. Sasuke comforted her by listening and understanding, while Naruto would do both but also make her laugh and brighten up her day.

"Hey Sasuke." greeted Sakura. "Good afternoon Sakura." replied Sasuke. "Come in, the food is almost ready. Please, sit down."

Sakura served the food and watched as Sasuke took a bite of her ramen.

"Do you like it?" asked Sakura. "Yeah, I like the saltiness aspect you added." Sakura realized that her attempt at keeping the tears out of the meal was unsuccessful.

"Thank you." she said. They ate their meal in silence until Sasuke spoke up, "What's wrong Sakura?" Sakura had barely touched her food. All she could think about was Naruto's goofy face as he ate ramen at Ichiraku's. She missed it.

"Sorry, it's just that all he...all he ever ate was ramen you know?" choked Sakura.

Sasuke knew that she was sad but all his attempts to make her feel better didn't work too well, but this time he was determined to cheer up. Sasuke stood up from his chair and walked over to Sakura, who was staring at the bowl of ramen.

"Sakura." he says. She looks up and emerald eyes meet dark ones, but it felt awkward to her. Those eyes are so black and dark and cold. "_They're not warm like his."_ thought Sakura.

Then suddenly, Sasuke closed the distance between their faces and kissed her. Sakura should have been elated, but she just wasn't. She kissed him back, hoping to feel love and happiness swell up in her heart. She tried so hard, but this kiss was different.

When she kissed Naruto, she felt sparks and love emanate from him. With Sasuke's kiss she felt that he truly had feelings for her, but the there were no sparks and it left her unsatisfied. She couldn't stop though. Despite the fact that she missed Naruto, Sakura couldn't stop. She deepened the kiss, desperately searching for something.

She was looking for one sign, any sign, that would tell her she truly loved Sasuke. She didn't find it.

When they broke the kiss Sasuke hugged her and confessed to her, "Sakura Haruno, I love you. I'm so glad you return those feelings too. I was afraid you wouldn't love me after all that time."

"Yeah, I love you too." managed Sakura. "_Do I really love him? Why does this feel so wrong?" _she asked herself

They stayed hugging like that for what seemed like hours until Sasuke had to he left, however, Sakura fell to her knees and cried. She didn't know why, but she couldn't stop.

**Time Skip 1 Year - (Couples emerge: Shikamaru and Temari, Choji and Ino, Sasuke and Sakura, and Lee and Kurotsuchi)**

It was a beautiful Friday morning. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, which made the 6th Hokage dread the fact he had to stay indoors and complete his neverending pile of paperwork.

"Ugh, It's such a nice day and I'm stuck in here finishing all this stupid work." complained Kakashi. "I could be outside reading up on the Icha Icha series. Its been so long since I've had any free time." Kakashi exhales loudly and closes his eyes, attempting to reach some tranquility. His peace is interrupted when he hears a knock on the door. He sighs.

"Enter." he says. The door opens to reveal his favorite pink-haired kunoichi. "Ahh, good morning Sakura. What brings you here today?"

"Hey Kakashi Sensei! Well I figured that since it's such a nice day today I'd invite you to join Sasuke and I for some training." said Sakura

"Ahh that's right! You and Sasuke are dating aren't you?" asked an interested Kakashi

"Yeah, just recently actually." blushed Sakura as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Sakura had just recently growing her hair out again. She figured she'd make it longer for Sasuke and because she missed her long hair.

"Well thank you for your offer Sakura, but I'm afraid I'm stuck in here until I finish this." The Hokage points to the massive stack of paperwork that sits on his desk and sighs."Thank goodness Naruto is solving so many political dilemmas or else there would be so much more work to do."

"What? Naruto is solving things?" asked a surprised Sakura. "Yes, as a matter of fact he just got that pesky priest in the Village Hidden in the Petals to stop accusing us of poisoning his daughter. Turns out that she just ate some flower that promotes stomach aches. Frickin idiots."

Sakura chuckled at her Sensei's comment. "So he's really doing well huh? He's spreading peace wherever he goes." said Sakura while staring out the window. Kakashi notices this and decides he can spare some time for his student. "Sakura sit down please." She looks at him confusingly, but obeys.

"Tell me Sakura. Did you thank Naruto yet for bringing back Sasuke yet?" asked Kakashi, catching Sakura off guard. "Of… of course! I mean I ate ramen with him and kind of implied it know?" stammered Sakura.

"No Sakura. Have you genuinely and personally thanked him yet? He is the one who worked for years trying to make you happy." Sakura paused and looked out the window again. A solemn look plastered on her face as if she were reminiscing about something.

"No sensei, I haven't. I mean, I've tried I really have, but how do you say thank you to someone who spent 5 years of his life trying to fulfill a stupid promise you practically forced him to make?" asked Sakura. "A simple thank you doesn't really cut it…"

"Sakura, this is Naruto we're talking about. He doesn't need anything special. Tell me, have you apologized to him about what you said in the Land of Iron?"

"No, but I-"

"You said you loved him, yet when he brought Sasuke back you completely ignored him and now you're dating Sasuke…" interrupted Kakashi. "No, it's not like that! I've just been getting to know Sasuke better, I've never ignored Naruto!"

"Maybe ignored isn't the right word, but you've spent a considerable less amount of time with him since he brought Sasuke back right? asked the gray-haired Hokage. "Yes…" managed Sakura.

"How do you think that looks to Naruto? How do you think it makes him feel?"

Then, realization hit Sakura like Tsunade's chakra enhanced fist. She realized that everything she failed to say to her blonde jinchuuriki affected him greatly. She finally connected the dots. The reason why Naruto never attended Ino's get-togethers, why he always had a glum face when he looked at her and Sasuke, and why he left… She realized that she pushed Naruto out of the village. Yes, he left to train and promote peace, but he needed some space. He couldn't bear to see her and Sasuke together anymore.

She began to think about their kiss. That amazing kiss which still made her feel tingly to this day. Why couldn't she stop thinking about it? Why was it so much better than Sasuke's? "_Wait, did I just say Naruto's kiss was better than Sasuke's?" _

"Sorry Kakashi Sensei I gotta go!" Sakura ran home without stopping and without looking back, charging through unlucky villagers who got in her way. When she arrived she went straight to her room.

"Sakura are you home? I've baked-" Mebuki's sentence was cut of by the slamming of Sakura's door.

Sakura threw herself on her bed, buried her face into her pillow, and cried. It had been a while since she cried because Naruto left, but at the realization that she was partly to blame for Naruto's departure made her feel sick inside.

"Please come back Naruto. Thank you for saving Sasuke and I'm sorry for my false confession!" said Sakura as tears feel from her face and soaked her pillow. However, her apologies weren't heard by anyone. She'd have to wait until Naruto returned from his journey.

She slowly began to calm down and found herself dozing off. She thought about Naruto and her eyes gradually fell on his lips. She dreamt about the kiss over and over, but every time they kissed, Naruto would push away and leave. Was she having a pleasant dream or a nightmare? Why couldn't she stop thinking about that kiss!?

Suddenly Naruto became an image stood there hanging in the air. A strong breeze blew Naruto away and replaced it with Sasuke. For some reason Sakura stood there in fear. Sasuke unsheathed his sword and thrust it into Sakura. "I love you." he said as he kissed her on the lips. His breath was cold, his sword was cold, his eyes were cold, everything about him was cold.

Sakura woke up with a scream and drenched in sweat. Panting she stood up and walked to bathroom. She stared at her reflection and for the first time questioned her feelings.

Days went by, and Sakura and Sasuke furthered their relationship. They had only kissed three times, but for some reason to Sakura that was three kisses to many. She had continued to have the same nightmare and for some reason they wouldn't stop. She'd always wake up screaming to the face of Sasuke. She longed for Naruto, but something kept her attached to Sasuke. She was happy with him and convinced herself she loved him, but that nightmare kept haunting her.

Ever since she had that nightmare Sakura would always whisper something before going to bed. "_Naruto, please come back." _but just like her apologies, her words weren't heard.

**Time Skip 2 Years**

Today was the day. He was finally returning. Sakura awaited by the gates with glee hoping she could see Naruto, apologize, get some closure, and stop those terrible nightmares. Though she did wonder how he would react to her and Sasuke living together. Just a couple months ago Sasuke had asked her to live with him and she accepted.

Hopefully he got over her during his travels, but did she really want that? When it came to her feelings Sakura made it a habit to begin telling herself lies such as, "I love Sasuke, I don't have feelings for Naruto, I don't prefer Naruto's kiss over Sasuke's."

She stood there for hours and wondered why he hadn't returned yet. He couldn't be dead because she had been hearing rumors of all the amazing feats that the Great Naruto Uzumaki had accomplished. One could say that Naruto's peacekeeping journey was a success. He solved many political problems and took down quite a few rogue ninja. In truth, all she ever heard of were great stories of her blond teammate. "Then why is he late?" she asked herself.

Sakura looked around her and saw all of her friends wondering the same thing. She took a moment to see how much everyone had changed these past 3 years. Everyone was promoted to jonin and changed their outfit to suit the more mature versions of themselves.

Ino still wore purple and still showed her belly, however her bottom piece is longer than before.

Shino wore a green jacket like piece of clothing with black pants, and wore silver eye gear.

Rock Lee wore the same stupid green jumpsuit as always, and Tenten kept her white clothes.

Temari had come to live in the Leaf Village after her engagement with Shikamaru, who wore a gray tinted white jacket and grew a goatee.

Kiba now gelled his hair back, also grew a small goatee, and wore an unzipped jacket similar to the one he wore as a genin.

Hinata hadn't changed much. She was no longer as timid and shy as before and was a great shinobi.

Choji remained the same kind and plump Akimichi they all loved, and his relationship with Ino was going fantastically from what Ino told her.

Then there was Sasuke. In Sakura's eyes, Sasuke looked absolutely stunning. His face matured and he wore a purple cloak like top which hid Kusanagi well. He also put his hair over his left eye which covered his Rinnegan.

Sakura had worn her clothes to fit that of a shinobi and somewhat a maid. It was perfect for her shinobi missions or just relaxing at home. Also, she now held her hair up with a white handkerchief and still wore her black pants and red top.

She was happy that everyone had matured more, however, everyone was silent. They were all waiting anxiously to welcome Naruto back, but where was he?

(I don't really like having to describe clothing so basically everyone looks the same as what Kishimoto did. Same thing no real or drastic change.)

"Where is that knucklehead?" wondered Sakura

**POV Change - Naruto (3 days later)**

"So that's everything that happened Pervy Sage. Well, it was nice talking to you again old man. Catch ya later!" Naruto was on his way back to the Leaf Village and decided to tell his old master all about his travels and keeping the peace. He was a few days late, but he was sure nobody would mind.

"Man, I could really go for a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen! It's been forever since I've had some!" Naruto walked pass the village gates, making sure to greet Kotetsu and Izumo, who looked baffled at how much he had matured. Naruto had changed his clothing quite drastically. He didn't wear a jump suit, however he still kept the orange aspect. It wouldn't be Naruto without orange right?

Naruto's hair was shorter and he now wore an orange jacket zipped to the collar. The jacket had black highlights and stripes which made it look like Naruto was part tiger. He also wore black pants and black shinobi boots. Finally, he now held a black steel sword, which hung on his back, and everything except the hilt was covered by a white cloak. His cloak had red flames at the bottom similar to that of his father's. His right arm was also covered in bandages up to the shoulder, a consequence of intense training. (Have you seen how grownup Naruto looks like in the manga? HE LOOKS EPIC!)

Naruto held his hands behind his head as he walked to his favorite ramen stand. He couldn't help but chuckle at the all the heads of women he was turning. Everywhere he looked he saw girls drooling over him.

"_So this is what Sasuke felt like when we were genin_." thought Naruto.

When Naruto arrived to the ramen stand he inhaled 10 bowls of ramen, caught up with Teuchi and Ayame, paid, and left with a full stomach.

"Man that was soo good! Alright, time to meet up with Kakashi Sensei." He had a slight problem though. News spread fast in the village and soon there was a mob of women rushing towards him.

Naruto sighed in annoyance and threw a three-pronged kunai to the top of the Hokage tower. At this point all the women were throwing their panties and bras at Naruto. He hid his blush and used his Flying Thunder God Jutsu to teleport on top of the Hokage tower.

He took a moment to look over the entire village. It changed so much. He could see buildings that were built in areas where there was nothing but trees, new shinobi training grounds, and more. The sight took his breath away. There was more than one moment where Naruto felt homesick, and now he finally returned.

After watching the village Naruto walked to the office of the Hokage, bust open the doors with a mighty slam, and yelled, "I'M BAAAAAAAAAAACK!"

Kakashi almost pissed his pants at the sudden entrance his student had made. He sat there for a few seconds with a confused expression and blinked his eye a couple times to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. He stared at Naruto, who had spread his legs out and held his hands out in a surprise gesture.

"Ehh, Sensei… are you gonna say something? My arms are getting tired…" complained Naruto

Kakashi quickly regained his composure, changed his expression, and flash his famous one-eyed smile.

"Well, its nice to have you back Naruto Uzumaki."

"HAHA! Believe it!" exclaimed Naruto.

**Author's Notes:**

Hey everybody! First things first, thank you to everybody who left reviews and constructive criticism. I'll use it to improve my writing.

Well here is chapter 2. I don't feel too happy with this chapter, but leave your comments and tell me what you think.

A couple things I want to address:

I kind of just threw in couples in this story. This is a NaruSaku story so I didn't really find it fitting to describe the relationships of the other ninjas in detail.

Lots of SasuSaku so far, but I want to promote the feeling that Sakura is lying to herself. Sorry to those who don't like SasuSaku.

Sasuke truly loves Sakura. I won't say what happens because even I don't know, but be assured that this is a NaruSaku story, and Sakura won't just be able to change her feelings, land a relationship with Naruto, and everything will be all fine and dandy. Sakura needs to experience some consequence for her blindness and stupidity lol.

Sorry for all the massive time skips. Maybe in the future I'll change that, I'm not sure.

I know Ino and Choji had to be separated because of the whole InoShikaCho thing, but I couldn't put Ino and Sai together or Choji and Karui because I hate those couples. Lets just say that love trumps all.

No homosexuality will be in this story. I am neutral to the topic, but I don't think that homosexuality should be present because I'm trying to make the story somewhat appropriate for all ages.

Also, I'm having trouble with the next chapter and I want your opinion. I have been thinking about including a fight scene in chapter 3, however, I have realized that a lot of the jutsu's that I've "created" have come from other Naruto fanfictions I have read. Should I maybe try to rename them, or give credit to the other authors by stating that jutsu is not my own creation. Any help would be great.

Besides that, thanks so much for reading and have a fantastic day!


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